hello, welcome to "newsline." it's wednesday november 12th. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. the apec summit in beijing ended after two days of talks. leaders agreed to make a framework for a free trade zone that would cover the entire asia-pacific region. the 21-member forum issued a joint declaration that commits the regions to study the feasibility of the new regional economic integration. it would be called the free trade area of the asia-pacific. >> translator: the apec leaders

have agreed to promote a road map to create the free trade area in the asia-pacific. this is a historic step forward. >> the results of their research will be compiled by the end of the 2016, with the goal of setting up the new framework at the earliest possible date. prime minister shinzo abe of japan will lead an effort to integrate the regional economy. . >> translator: the tpp negotiations are at the final stage. we were able to share a firm will that we will conclude the talks at an early date without political leadership. and now we are beginning to see the end. beyond the tpp, we're looking at an economic integration to create a greater market in the

entire asia-pacific region. at the apec meeting, we were able to draw a road map for setting up the framework. >> abe said japan worked with australia, the u.s. and other countries to set up the apec forum 25 years ago. and he said japan is now looking ahead to the next 25 years. he said leaders in tokyo are determined to lead efforts to create the asia-pacific free trade area. abe said he discussed the situation in ukraine, and other global issues with russian president vladimir putin. abe said he wants him to visit japan next year. he said he will enhance cooperation toward the conclusion of a peace treaty based on personal trust. the prime minister said he had a conversation with south korean president park geun-hye when they sat side by side at a banquet.

ties between the two countries have been tense. abe said he and park agreed to promote talks between senior government officials. japan's governing and opposition parties are rapidly preparing for a possible general election. they're waiting to see if prime minister abe chooses to dissolve the lower house and seek a fresh mandate. abe is due to decide in the coming weeks whether to raise the consumption tax from 8% to 10% beginning in october 2015. he hasn't publicly mentioned the possibility of calling a snap vote, but political observers say abe may postpone the tax hike and call a lower house election. the liberal democratic party already selected their candidates for the single-seat constituencies. >> translator: the winds of evolution will undoubtedly begin to throw.

>> the leader of junior coalition partner has instructed party officials to be ready for an election in the coming months. >> translator: various pieces of unreliable information are emerging about the lower house dissolving. i have no choice but to start making preparations. >> opposition parties are also preparing to go to the polls. >> translator: prime minister abe, you are free to dissolve the lower house if you really can. we will take the challenge if that happens. >> officials with the largest opposition democratic party have chosen people to run in nearly half of the single-seat districts. they plan to consult other opposition groups to avoid fielding candidates in the same constituencies. as they say that would likely benefit the ruling coalition. now, investors are also wondering what abe will do, but they seem excited about the possibility of a general election.

ai joins urs from the business desk. what's going on here? >> tokyo shares are rallying, trading at the highest levels in more than seven years. investors take the possibility of a snap election as a possible delay and another hike in the sales tax. so the rumors about abe dissolving parliament is encouraging investors to buy what they normally consider risky assets like stocks and the dollar. the benchmark nikkei is trading higher. share prices across almost all sectors are rising. investors are buying exporters in particular, like car and electronics makers. and that is on the weaker yen. on to currencies now. the dollar still trading at seven-year highs against the yen. 115.79-82. analysts are expecting the dollar's strong trend to continue as the data shows a positive outlook for the u.s. economy. let's take a look at what's happening in other markets in

the parcific-asia region. in australia, the benchmark index is down by two-thirds percent. a bit of a mixed picture. japanese government officials have been moving to reduce the effective corporate tax rate. there are concerns about a drop in revenue. the officials are looking at ways of making up for it. the finance minister and the head of the country's biggest business organization have met to discuss a possible solution. finance minister and chairman of the japan business federation agreed that the government should expand the coverage of what's known as the size based corporate tax. right now the tax is levied on major corporations even if they're in the red. the government is considering taxing smaller firms, too, from next april. they also agreed on the need to lighten the tax burden on companies that give raises to their workers.

a government survey shows that many fish and food processing businesses in the disaster hit northeastern japan are still struggling. only about 1 in 5 of the companies say their sales have returned to the same level as before the march 2011 earthquake and tsunami. officials at the tohoku bureau of the economy ministry surveyed nearly 8,000 small and mid-sized companies. these firms have received state subsidies to rebuild their businesses. about 60% of the companies in all business sectors reported declining sales. 40% said sales have recovered, or exceeded pre-disaster levels. by industry, 19.4% of the fish and food processing companies said their sales have recovered. as for the main reasons for the company seeing a slow recovery, they cited a loss of customers and the negative public perception about their product safety.

japanese consumers spent less on tvs, computers and other digital products in october. analysts say consumer appetite is low amid rising food prices caused by the weaker yen. the analysts at private research firm bcn say the number of tv sets sold in japan last month fell 1.8% from a year earlier. that's the second straight year-on-year decline. sales volume also fell. the total value of tvs sold posted a year-on-year drop since april. the number of personal computers fell more than 11%, digital cameras, they were also down by 9%. demand for digital devices plunged in april, when the government hiked the consumption tax. more for you next hour. here's another check on markets.

north korea's state-run television has repeatedly aired video this month of the nation's leader walking. this appears to be an attempt to show that kim jong-un is recovering from a leg problem. central television broadcast a program on tuesday that shows kim visiting various places in north korea in september and october. he used a cane as he inspects newly built housing at a construction site. on thursday last week the station aired a video of kim attending a meeting of the korean people's army. he walks without a cane in this

video. the state-run media had not reported on kim's activities in more than a month. the national intelligence service said they believe kim had ankle surgery. the man at the center of one of the worst maritime disasters in south korea's history may spend years behind bars. he was captain of the ferry that sank with almost 480 people onboard. more than 300 of them are dead or missing. judges spared him the death penalty but sentenced him to 36 years in prison. here's more. >> reporter: people in south korea were stun ned about the 25 people lost their lives when the ferry went down off the southern coast of south korea in april. many of them were high school students. nine people are still missing.

investigators say the ferry was carrying too much cargo, and they say crew members didn't properly secure it. they allege the company boosted its profits by millions of dollars by overloading the vessel. are they left many of the passengers behind. judges in the district court in the southern district came to their decision. the presiding judge said he neglected to take proper measures to help the passengers. but he said he could not determine if he knew and accepted that the passengers would die as a result. he found the captain guilty of gross negligence.

they had sought the death penalty, but he had defended his actions. he had said he did all he could to try to get people safely off the vessel. relatives of the victims rejected the ruling. >> translator: more than anger or resentment, the judgment makes me feel empty. i wanted the captain and crew to get the death penalty. >> translator: the defendant is clearly guilty of homicide. there were 304 victims, but the sentence was 36 years in prison. that's outrageous. >> reporter: one says the court should have found the captain guilty of homicide. it was said that the court didn't consider the only person

for what happened. >> translator: the judgment said that it's not only the captain and crew who should be held responsible, but responsibility should also be shared by the political world, the authorities and society. >> reporter: investigators are yet to assess this nhk world, south korea. american health authorities say a doctor who contracted ebola has been released from a new york city hospital. ne say he's been declared free of the virus. craig spencer left the facility on tuesday, after about three weeks of treatment. [ cheers and applause ] spencer was diagnosed with the

disease on october 23rd, after returning from guinea in west africa. he had been treating ebola patients there. he expressed gratitude to everyone involved in his treatment and calling for continued international support despite the outbreak. >> it is important to remember that my infection represents but a fraction of the more than 13,000 reported cases to date in west africa. the center of the outbreak, where families are being torn apart and communities are destroyed. >> health officials haven't released the details of the doctor's treatment. they've always said that he received a blood plasma transfusion from a patient who had recovered from the disease. they stressed the importance of early detection of ebola, as well as isolation and proper management of patients. a total of nine people, including spencer, have been treated for the disease in the united states. a liberian man visiting the u.s.

died from the virus but the others have recovered. chinese military officials have unveiled a new piece of hardware. they showed a stealth fighter jet that can be deployed on an aircraft carrier. the j-31 took to the skies at an air show. the vice president and senior officers walked the black plane fly at a low altitude. they say the aircraft underwent test flights in 2012. they say it will take several years to become operational and can be exported to other countries. the u.s. defense department's annual report to congress said china is strengthening its capabilities to strike air bases and other targets in the region. slow-moving lava from hawaii's kilauea volcano hit a house, marking the first time the molten rock damaged a home. since june, it has been creeping

toward a village some 35 kilometers away. it's burnt surrounding trees and covered part of a cemetery. local authorities say the lava flow stopped at one point, but the leading edge started flowing again on monday at a speed of around 13 meters an hour. the lava stream then set a home on fire and burned it down in less than an hour. no injuries were reported. residents left the house three months ago. local authorities warned that the lava flow could build up rapidly. they're calling on residents in more than 15 nearby households to be ready to evacuate. japanese weather experts are keeping an eye on the hole in the ozone layer over antarctica. they say it's still large despite the reduction in harmful gases in the atmosphere. ozone in the stratosphere protects people from skin cancer. japan meteorological officials say the hole shown in gray started getting bigger in early september.

they say the hole was as big as 23.4 million square meters early last month. that's 1.7 times the size of antarctica, and is roughly the same as the average for the past ten years. man-made gases deplete the ozone layer. this enlarges the area of the hole between august and december every year. >> translator: the hole will shrink gradually, but will remain until the second half of the 21st century. >> he said international regulations are causing the levels of man-made gases in the atmosphere to fall. japanese tennis star nishikori was in london, and outmatched on the court by roger federer in straight sets. federer, the number two ranked

player in the world, grabbed the lead early. he pressured him to make several errors. he dropped some of his serves. federer is a six-time former champ with a score of 6-3, 6-2. federer was definitely the stronger player on the court. and says he will now prepare for his next opponent. he faces a canadian on thursday. in another group b match, hometown favorite, andy murray defeated ronich to claim his first victory in the round-robin tournament. world cup bouldering champion is inspiring a trend. she has regained her title after four years. we'll look at how she rose to the top. >> reporter: professional free climber is one of the top free climbers in the world.

free climbing comes in three categories. in league climbing, competitors scale a wall, attached to a life rope. in speed climbing, the aim is to reach the top first. in bouldering, the wall is about five meters high, and climbers scale it without any rope attached. noguchie is the current champion. the secret of her success lies in her great flexibility. other climbers draw on their physical strength. but she has an elite rhythmic flow. >> translator: people often think that americans and europeans have an advantage in climbing, because they are tall and muscular. but i try to figure out how to

grab on to the small holds and find small footholds that other climbers can't find. in free climbing, you need all kinds of skills. >> reporter: she trains every day. but she doesn't go to a normal gym. she carries out her training on her parents' dairy farm. a barn has been converted into a bouldering gym. her father made it so his daughter could train. the walls are designed so they are extremely hard to climb. but she makes her way up smoothly. in 2009 and 2010, she became world bouldering champion. but for the next three years, she lost out to her austrian rival.

the world cup competition consists of eight events. she did not win any of the first four. >> translator: it felt really tough. i even began to think i'd never get another win ever again. >> reporter: but going into the fifth event held in canada, something had changed inside of her. >> translator: in the second half of the season, i stopped worrying about my results. i just focused on my own style of climbing. i could really focus, so much that i wasn't aware of my surroundings. >> reporter: she put in a perfect performance to clinch the canada competition. she won the next three world cup events as well, dominating her rivals. and regained the title of world bouldering champion, which she

had last won in 2010. >> translator: the best part of climbing for me is feeling that i'm still improving. for example, when i climb a wall that i wasn't able to climb last year. i want to get stronger. i want to keep getting stronger, and keep improving. >> she's part of the nhk world series, the creative woman. it will air on november 14th. it's time for a check of the weather. people across much of italy are dealing with the aftermath of severe weather. mai joins us with the details. >> torrents of rainfall have resulted in the deluge of heavy

rainfall, in days, which have created severe flooding across northwestern italy, including kovari, where we have images coming out. rain left northern italy underwater. at least two people dead and many homes were damaged. a couple is believed to have been swept away by a mudslide. floodwaters flowed into several towns, forcing people to wade through knee-deep waters. many shop owners desperately tried to stop the water to bail out what was entering their buildings. over 200 millimeters were reported in a space of just eight hours at one location. emergency workers continued to be delayed in bringing in assistance due to many roads being washed out or even blocked. unfortunately, the similar conditions will be prevailing due to the upper cold air and surface temperature clashing here, making for heavy rainfall across the similar locations.

that's possibly going to move into venice as well as rome. much of the western coast. southeastern corner of france, where flooding is ongoing here as well, could see the situation worsen. now, across the west, we have this incoming system from the atlantic, which will create gusty conditions as well as some heavy patches of rain in parts of the british isles. rain is also moving into paris, that's 14 degrees for your high. not so bad in temperature. high pressure system dominates the east again, and warm temperatures are seen here. now, across the u.s., nothing warm here. it's really cold. in fact, extremely cold for this time of the year. and it's creating snowfall across the upper midwest and the great lakes region. and this system will also provide about 50 centimeters of snowfall across ontario. down to the south, on top of about 40 centimeters we have

already, about 20 centimeters will add up to that. this is due to the jet stream running all the way down to the south, an open door for the arctic blast to cover much of the states. it's more of the temperature difference that we're really concerned of. about 15 degrees celsius drop will happen in just a few hours. in fact, take a look at the charts here. dallas, st. louis, kansas city, denver, this is the temperature on monday. some in the 20s. high 20s in fact. and then down to just single digits, or even negative 9 from 18 degrees in denver. that's just in one day. and some of it happened in a few days, about a 25-degree drop. and these cold, cold temperatures will persist into the latter half of your week. or throughout your weekend. so please be aware of the very chilly biting conditions. across japan, the system that has created heavy rainfall across tokyo region, not pulling

away. this system which is already providing about 30 centimeters of snow in north korea will likely put into northern japan. especially western seaboards are going to be feeling very gusty conditions, about 126 kilometers per hour. which will be accompanied with thunderstorms, and even a possibility of tornadoes. but meanwhile, the pacific side looking pleasant at just 18 degrees. i'll leave you with the extended forecast.

that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for watching.

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>> hello and welcome to our latest edition of euromaxx - recent cases of people have shown that this is no longer a problem confined to africa. no matter where we are, we speak -- we suffer with potential outbreak of the disease. here is what we have coming up. sitting on edge, molly hopes for the best, but fears for the worst stop -- mali hopes for the best, but fears for the worst. and in china, fears for children. and trying to save the sea turtles.